I love the SU-8W Bluetooth Keyboard from Nokia. Paired with my N95, it is hands-down the greatest thing EVER. I can blog with it, I can surf the internet easier and more conveniently, and I can game with it. In using it, I thought, “Oh, man, how much greater will this be with the more powerful N800?” The answer to that question, unfortunately, is NOT MUCH.

For one thing, the SU-8W is optimized for S60 devices. It has a dedicated menu button, messaging, and the 3 softkeys, as well, enabling you to seriously do anything you need to on the phone, without having to touch the phone itself. Brilliant. The N800? Not so much, for several reasons.

The first, there’s no way to navigate the N800’s UI with the SU-8W
unless you get in there and custom map the buttons. This is painful to
do, and the average user couldn’t even find the place to do it, much
less actually map them out. Somehow there needs to be a way to fix this
easily. The Menu key should remap to to the Home screen if pressed, and
should pull up the task manager (or rather, open items) list when held.
Simple. But you can’t custom map the menu key. It’s for something else
that I can’t figure out.

The second problem is navigation through the UI. It still wants to pull
up the on-screen keyboard, even with the SU-8W paired and active.
That’s a pain, as it often obstructs the screen A LOT.

Last but not least is the different usage patterns. Because it’s a touch-screen
device, when using the N800 paired with the keyboard, there are bound
to be long periods of time in which you don’t actually use the keyboard
(especially in light of the first point). When the keyboard isn’t used
for a specific period of time (I’m too lazy to find the manual to find
out exactly) it will turn itself off automatically. This is great to
conserve those batteries, but SUCKS having to turn it back on all the
time and wait a few seconds for it to re-pair.

The N800, though, is a difficult item to work with and review. Basically, because no one really seems to know precisely what it’s used for, or intended to be used for. The things that I do on my N800 are completely different from the next guy, and that guy is different from his neighbor. That makes things difficult. But it’s still an awesome device.

So would I suggest buying the SU-8W, to those thinking about it? If you own an S60 device, then heck yes. Without a doubt the greatest $150 I didn’t spend on a device. I would have spent it, though, honest. If you’re looking for a keyboard specifically for your N800? No. Frankly, there’s cheaper options, and with as much tinkering as you have to do with the SU-8W for the N800, you might as well tinker with an extra $50-60 in your wallet.

Categories: Rants
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